HOUSTON – The 2024 College Football Playoff is quickly approaching its conclusion, with two of the four teams remaining coached by finalists for the American Heart Association Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award.
After the higher seeds won all four opening-round games, fortunes changed in the quarterfinals as all four teams who earned opening-round byes fell to their opposition to set up this weekend’s semifinal contests – sixth-seeded Penn State toppled Boise State 31-14 and seventh-seeded Notre Dame downed Georgia 23-10 to set up Thursday’s Capital One Orange Bowl matchup, while eighth-seeded Ohio State dominated top seed Oregon 41-21 and fifth seed Texas won a double-overtime thriller 39-31 over Arizona State to advance to Friday’s Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
Penn State (13-2) vs. Notre Dame (13-1) – Capital One Orange Bowl – Miami, Fla.
Two midwestern teams will head south for what promises to be an epic matchup between James Franklin’s Penn State Nittany Lions and Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
It will be the 20th all-time meeting between the programs, who sit at an even 9-9-1 all-time. Only one of those meetings has come in the postseason – a 20-9 win by Notre Dame in the 1977 Gator Bowl.
For the Nittany Lions – this game comes during what is the most successful period in the history of the program by wins and losses. Over the last three seasons, Penn State has notched 34 wins – the most wins in any three-year span in program history. The running game has led the way for the Nittany Lions, who saw both Kaytron Allen (1,026 yards) and Nicholas Singleton (1,015) go over the 1,000-yard threshold for the season in last week’s win over Boise State. The tandem became the first Big Ten duo since Iowa’s Akrum Wadley (1,081 yards) and Leshun Daniels, Jr. (1,058) in 2016 and just the ninth in Big Ten history to run for 1,000 yards in the same season. They are the only tandem in FBS this season to accomplish the same feat.
The tandem will face perhaps the stiffest defensive opposition they have seen this year in the Notre Dame defense. The Fighting Irish defense is – in a word – elite, and may well be one of the toughest defensive units in college football history. Notre Dame is first nationally in pass efficiency defense (99.88), turnovers gained (31), defensive touchdowns (6), second in scoring defense (13.6), third in fumbles recovered (13), fourth in interceptions (18), fifth in passing defense (167.4), fifth in red zone defense (.686), fifth in third down defense (.299) fifth in fourth down defense (.333) and eighth in total defense (295.4). The defensive effort has been buoyed by the play of Xavier Watts, whose 13 interceptions over the last two seasons are the top total in FBS.
Watts and cornerback Christian Gray achieved a feat in the win over USC this season, as the tandem dialed long distance on a pair of pick-sixes on back-to-back drives to close the game. Gray went first – pulling in a 99-yard return, and on the very next USC drive Watts returned a pick 100 yards for a score. That marked the first time since at least 1996 that such a feat has occurred.
Meanwhile, on the offensive side of the ball, the duo of quarterback Riley Leonard and running back Jeremiyah Love has paced the Notre Dame offensive effort. Ten times this season both have found the end zone on the ground, with Love scoring in 13 consecutive games, setting a new school record. Love is the only FBS running back to have scored a touchdown in each regular-season game this year, and with his seven-carry, 130-yard performance against Army, he became one of just two Power 4 running backs to achieve 130 yards on fewer than ten carries this year. Meanwhile, Leonard found the end zone 15 times on the ground 15 times – breaking the previous record of 14 set by Brandon Wimbush in 2015.
Make no mistake – the defensive opposition on the Penn State side of the field is elite as well. Defensive end Abdul Carter and was named the Nagurski-Woodson Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and the Smith-Brown Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year. The Nittany Lions have surrendered just 15.8 points per game this year, giving up 100.9 yards on the ground. And while past performance is not an indicator of future returns – the last time these two teams met, back in the 2007 season, Penn State pitched a defensive shutout on the ground – holding Notre Dame to a round zero rushing yards on 26 attempts.
Ohio State (12-2) vs. Texas (13-2) – Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic – Arlington, Texas
Two traditional blue blood programs will lock up in the Cotton Bowl as Ryan Day’s red-hot Ohio State Buckeyes face off against Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns.
Friday’s meeting – just the fourth all-time between the two schools – will be the first time these powers have met since the 2009 Fiesta Bowl, a 24-21 Texas win.
The Longhorns are coming off a thrilling win over Arizona State, and have been led offensively by the play of quarterback Quinn Ewers, who debuted with Ohio State in 2021 before transferring home to Texas, where he has been firmly established as the starter for the last three seasons. Ewers has completed 270 of 406 passes this year for 3,189 yards, finding the end zone 29 times. Ewers’ favorite target has been junior wideout Matthew Golden, who has hauled in 56 passes for 936 yards, averaging 16.7 yards per pass, with nine touchdown receptions. Meanwhile, on the ground, Quintrevion Wisner has rushed for 1,018 yards and five scores.
The Longhorns’ offensive unit will face off against what has been the nation’s top defense, as Ohio State has surrendered a miserly 244.6 yards and 12.1 points per game. The fearsome Buckeyes defensive front, led by JT Tuimolau and Jack Sawyer, has racked up 30 of Ohio State’s 47 quarterback sacks this season. Tuimolau leads the way with 10.0, with Sawyer following right behind with 8.0. Those 47 sacks rank third nationally and are tied for second all-time with Ohio State’s 1998 and 2000 teams. The single-season record for OSU is 54 sacks by the 2019 team.
Offensively, Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard has been a force in his CFP games, completing 41 of 55 passes for 630 yards and five TDs in the wins over Tennessee and Oregon. He ranks fourth nationally with a 72.6 percent completion percentage. He has racked up those numbers throwing to one of the most talented corps of receivers in the nation, led by freshman Jeremiah Smith, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Wide Receiver of the Year. Smith ranks sixth nationally in receiving yards, and was named Offensive MVP in the Buckeyes’ Rose Bowl win over Oregon.
Meanwhile, the Buckeyes’ rushing effort has been buoyed by the captain, Treveyon Henderson, who has racked up 3,670 career rushing yards and 47 total touchdowns. He ranks fifth in school history in rushing yards and is in striking distance of 1995 Heisman Trophy winner and current Tennessee State head coach Eddie George (1992-95), who racked up 3,768 yards during his Ohio State career. Henderson has been quite the bellwether for the Buckeyes – Ohio State is 14-1 in games Henderson scores multiple touchdowns.
The Longhorns defense has been known for the takeaway this year – Texas ranks second in FBS in turnovers gained (30) and has a takeaway in 23 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the FBS. 21 of those takeaways this year have been interceptions, leading the Southeastern Conference and ranking second in the FBS this season. Leading the way for the Longhorns’ secondary is senior Jahdae Barron, who was named the 2024 Jim Thorpe Award winner. Barron leads the Longhorns with five picks and 11 pass breakups to go along with his 61 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack, two quarterback hurries, and one forced fumble.
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